Runaway inflation got you down? Try cooking at home and let someone else pay those high fast-food and restaurant prices.

One of my daughters was returning home for the day. In the morning, she was seeing old school friends, but in the afternoon and evening, she was spending time with my wife and me.

It was my day to cook, but what to make? I thought I would shop my freezer and found a turkey breast I bought on sale after last year’s Thanksgiving. I popped it in the fridge for a two-day defrost and planned the menu: turkey, stuffing, broccoli, strawberries, and some of my homemade flaxseed bread.

My daughter arrived on time, and we quickly got into a long conversation. I talk with her several times a week, but we always seem to have something to talk about. Suddenly, I realized that it was well past the roasting window for the turkey. What to do? It was time to call on help from my electric pressure cooker (AKA Instant Pot).

Here is a very simple recipe that makes a moist and very delicious turkey breast in less than an hour, from start to finish. The ingredients are very flexible, and you can find the steps in the photos below.

This is today’s subject. She is a 6 1/2 pound bone-in turkey breast completely thawed.

I’m adding a rub and patting it in. Why this rub? Well, it was the quickest thing I could find. You can rub the meat with any seasoning you want. If I had time I would have mixed together salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and perhaps some poultry seasoning. However, I didn’t have time, so I went with this. It worked out in the end.

I set my electric pressure cooker to sauté and let it heat up for a few minutes. Today, I’m using this Instant Pot clone. Its controls are a bit obtuse, but it did the job. If you want to know how to buy an electric pressure cooker cheaply, check out my September 15, 2026 blog post:

Click for the article: How to buy an “Instant Pot” cheaply.

I’m using a combination of cooking oil and butter. Butter adds flavor, and the oil helps keep it from burning.

Make sure the fat is hot and bubbling before you go on to the next step.

Place your turkey breast side down and brown it for 3-4 minutes. Do the same on all sides, each for the same amount of time. Your results won’t be perfect, and that is OK.

We are going to pressure-cook the turkey breast, and pressure cookers always need liquid to create steam. I’ll use some Better Than Bouillon to make about 1.5 cups of broth.

Your browned turkey breast should look something like this when you are done. Paprika added to any rub helps the browning process.

Your electric pressure cooker likely came with a trivet. If not, improvise. In a pinch, you can cook the breast without one. This one has handles, which will make it easier to pull out the bird after it is cooked.

I pulled out the browned turkey breast and placed it on the trivet. Then I moved on to the next step.

With the pot still on sauté, I poured in the 1.5 cups of reconstituted Better Than Bouillon.

Using a spatula, I scraped the bottom of the pan to dislodge any crusty bits. If you have a lot of stuff burnt to the bottom of the pot, you will get a burn warning, and the pot will shut off.

I returned the turkey breast (including the trivet) to the pot and wiped off the drips from the edge of the inner pot to ensure a good seal. I canceled the sauté setting.

I closed the lid and made sure that the pressure release valve was in the sealing position.

This cooker doesn’t have a manual setting (I know it says manual in the photo, but trust me it doesn’t have one). I used one of the other programs (Beans) and used the + and – keys to select the correct time. I pressure-cooked the breast for 34 minutes at high pressure. I used the 5 minutes/pound formula. Remember, it will take some time for the pot to build pressure before the 34 minutes start.

After the 34 minutes were completed, I let the turkey breast stay in the pot for an additional 10 minutes to allow a natural pressure release. I then turned the pressure release valve to vent to let any remaining steam out. Never attempt to open a pressure cooker while any steam remains. You will know that it is safe to open the pot when the float valve drops. The float valve on this machine is a bit hidden in the handle. On other machines it is more obvious. When all of the steam has evacuated, slowly open the pot using the cover as a shield. I tend to be cautious when opening any pressure cooker, and in over 50 years of pressure cooking I have never had an adverse event.

You want the turkey breast’s internal temperature to be 165F (74C) for safe eating. Normally, you would want to cover the breast in foil and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. The temps that I got were all over 200F. The turkey breast was fully cooked, and it was still very moist. However, it would have sliced better if I cooked it a bit less, perhaps a pressure cook time of 30 minutes instead of 34. If you go with a shorter time and the breast is not at 165F, simply return it to the pot for another 5-10 minutes of pressure cooking; time depending on its level of undoneness.

Here it is plated up. I spooned some of the pot’s broth over the turkey. I could have turned some of the broth into a gravy, or saved it for an impromptu soup. The turkey was tender, moist, and delicious.

Earlier in the day, my wife made a cake, which was a great end to a yummy meal.

I was surprised by how moist and tender the turkey breast was after cooking it in the electric pressure cooker. It was actually better than when I baked it. The only downside is that the skin doesn’t crisp in the pot. If that matters, you can always brown it under your oven’s broiler (watch carefully so you don’t burn it) after cooking is complete.

Naturally, there were leftovers for lunch the next day, and even some sandwiches after that.

Peace

Mike